Twenty teams of college students from the U.S., Canada, Spain and Germany are participating in the U.S. Department of Energy's 2009 Solar Decathlon. They have been working for almost two years to design, build and operate attractive, energy-efficient solar-powered homes. The teams have built a “solar village” on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. in late October.
Here is the event's Web site: http://www.solardecathlon.org/
EngineeringTV caught up with Santa Clara University's Preet Anand earlier this year to get details on the Refract House entry, made in conjunction with California College of the Arts. You can view the videos here: http://engineeringtv.com/blogs/etv/archive/2009/09/28/solar-decathlon-refract-house-part-1.aspx